7 ms·

I like tptacek's list but I'm wondering about how to get clients. tirrellp makes a good point, though. I guess that's how?

by hoboon 11y ago

tptacek 11y ago
You work really hard to get your first clients, fighting for each billable day, dealing with lots of dry spells. Then you "roll them up": you over-deliver and establish a reputation at those clients, find more work inside of them, and ask them for referrals. The stories you generate from over-delivering becomes the ammunition for any promotional work you to to generate new bluebird inbound clients. There is no secret trick to getting those first clients. It's a scary suck for most people who build successful consultancies. The "trick" is in carefully and aggressively exploiting those hard-to-get first clients in order to make subsequent clients easier and easier to get.
meric 11y ago
Here's how I got my first clients: 1. At university there was a billboard for people looking for developers. 2. Responded to everyone, with a ridiculously low price of $25. 3. Completed first job with flying colors. Collect glowing reference. 4. Stitch up reference on to personal website. 5. Hike price by 50%, find next client. 6. Rinse and repeat. I got up to $100 per hour for some clients[1], or $450 per day for other clients, before I finally found a full time developer job. I'm glad I did this freelancing thing because my company knows I can walk any time and make 6-figures on my own. I still get pinged by my former clients about new projects and refer them to friends. [1] (I was offered $115 one time but I felt that was too much of a raise - I priced myself at the highest possible rate where I am certain I will receive a glowing reference. And glowing references means raises.) P.S. I read patio11 and tptacek's advice at the time it was very useful.
- dennisgorelik 11y ago
  Why did you switch to full time job if you were successful as a consultant?
  - meric 11y ago
    I haven't tried being a full time developer. As a consultant it's rare I had engagements lasting more than a couple of months. At a company there's more of a "narrative". It's like reading short stories vs reading a novel, both are good at various times.

I like tptacek's list but I'm wondering about how to get clients. tirrellp makes a good point, though. I guess that's how?

by hoboon 11y ago

I like tptacek's list but I'm wondering about how to get clients. tirrellp makes a good point, though. I guess that's how?

tptacek 11y ago

You work really hard to get your first clients, fighting for each billable day, dealing with lots of dry spells. Then you "roll them up": you over-deliver and establish a reputation at those clients, find more work inside of them, and ask them for referrals. The stories you generate from over-delivering becomes the ammunition for any promotional work you to to generate new bluebird inbound clients. There is no secret trick to getting those first clients. It's a scary suck for most people who build successful consultancies. The "trick" is in carefully and aggressively exploiting those hard-to-get first clients in order to make subsequent clients easier and easier to get.

meric 11y ago

Here's how I got my first clients: 1. At university there was a billboard for people looking for developers. 2. Responded to everyone, with a ridiculously low price of $25. 3. Completed first job with flying colors. Collect glowing reference. 4. Stitch up reference on to personal website. 5. Hike price by 50%, find next client. 6. Rinse and repeat. I got up to $100 per hour for some clients[1], or $450 per day for other clients, before I finally found a full time developer job. I'm glad I did this freelancing thing because my company knows I can walk any time and make 6-figures on my own. I still get pinged by my former clients about new projects and refer them to friends. [1] (I was offered $115 one time but I felt that was too much of a raise - I priced myself at the highest possible rate where I am certain I will receive a glowing reference. And glowing references means raises.) P.S. I read patio11 and tptacek's advice at the time it was very useful.

dennisgorelik 11y ago
Why did you switch to full time job if you were successful as a consultant?
- meric 11y ago
  I haven't tried being a full time developer. As a consultant it's rare I had engagements lasting more than a couple of months. At a company there's more of a "narrative". It's like reading short stories vs reading a novel, both are good at various times.